Bunkie Knudsen’s one-off 1964 Corvette to debut at SEMA

A custom 1964 Corvette built for Chevrolet General Manager Semon E. “Bunkie” Knudsen, will be the centerpiece of Corvette parts purveyor Mid America Motorworks’ SEMA display next month.

The car belongs to Mid America Motorworks founder and owner Mike Yager and is part of his impressive collection in Effingham, Illinois. As it was an executive’s car, this Corvette was showered with custom features, a couple of which foretold styling cues that would appear on future production Corvettes, such as the egg-crate pattern grille similar to the 1967 Sting Ray.

Knudsen’s former company car also boasts a specially designed hood, a unique front bumper treatment, custom high-back bucket seats with all-white leather trim, custom Cadillac cut-pile carpeting, special stainless polished grates on the interior floor and one-off door panels with power windows and power vent wings. The car was topped off with DuPont Fire Frost Blue lacquer paint, a color that was available on Cadillacs.

The drivetrain consists of a stock 365hp/327, four-speed combo. The engine did receive some unique trim pieces, however, such as chrome rocker arm covers, a chrome fan, a chrome master cylinder lid and a chrome ignition shroud.

If you’re going to be at the SEMA show November 1-4 and want to check the car out, visit the Mid America Motorworks booth, which is number 24297.

October 12, 2011 9:10 am

Jimmy Portersays:

October 14, 2011 1:21 am

Ah, me too. My first Corvette; 1966 425/475 Positraction, Stick. Jesus, I had a lion by the tail. I could not start this car, but what the rear tires started to smoke. I chained the car to my back porch with a two inch link chain and often slept in the car. Quite uncomfortable, a reason I never got laid in the car. On the hood yes. I lived, ate, slept, made love to this car. I red lined it at 150 mph with another like beast along side of me. To fast, to fast. The opening on the four barrel was enormous. Handle it gently and she got good mileage; but kick her in the butt and the gas poured through the intake manifold.
What a car, what a car. Cried the day I had to get rid of it as I could not afford the insurance and the fact that I had nervous breakdowns babysitting this beauty. Be still, be still!

Scottsays:

October 12, 2011 9:18 am

Mike McNessorsays:

October 12, 2011 9:26 am

There are additional photographs of the car if you follow the “impressive collection” link in the story tohttp://www.mygaragemuseum.com/galleryindex.htm and click on the “1964 Styling Corvette” button.
The photos posted are all that were made available to us.

50 Chevysays:

October 12, 2011 9:31 am

Robb Campsays:

October 12, 2011 9:54 am

What a Beauty! I had a ’65 convertible, bought in 1985 from a friend, my wife at the time and myself loved drivng down to the oceanfront at Va Beach and having the kids just stare at the car as we drove by.

Jonsays:

October 12, 2011 11:03 am

Tom R.says:

October 12, 2011 11:36 am

How is it that the article is pointing out all of the special, unique features and none of the photos show any of the features, save for one or two? Egg-crate grill? Nope. Unique front bumper treatment? Nope. Specially designed hood? Nope. Special stainless polished grates on the interior floor? Nope.

Andrew Frankssays:

October 12, 2011 11:41 am

Art, don’t feel bad,I drove a ’53 for a while and loved every minute of it. I bought a 62 327 4 Speed and like a dummy I sold it. We need a list of the cars we should have kept along with great wine, soft nights and beautiful women………..

Mike McNessorsays:

October 12, 2011 12:04 pm

Magnumsays:

October 12, 2011 11:55 am

This is an example of why it’s a great idea to be the head honcho at a major car company. Edsel Ford ordered up the original Continental, Bunkie got this nice “vette”, Harley Earl had the Buick “Y” Job, and a string of others, as did John DeLorean. It causes me to wonder how many other “executive specials” exist that were never made public, and better yet, may still be hiding somewhere.

Art Finksays:

October 12, 2011 2:19 pm

Michael Waterssays:

October 12, 2011 1:04 pm

What a BEAUTIFUL ‘Vette! The custom touches by GM are subtle but look entirely appropriate on the car, something that afternmarket additions seldom acheive. And the Cadillace Fire Frost Blue looks great, an especially nice touch with the wheels.

Jacomosays:

October 12, 2011 5:11 pm

Magnumsays:

October 12, 2011 6:41 pm

Jacomo, the first time I ever saw an E-Type I immediatley started wondering if I could possiibly sell an important internal organ for enough money to buy one. It was a yellow convertible, with wire knock-offs, and the prettiest steering wheel I’d ever seen. That infatuation lasted until I was given a ride in a 427 Stingray owned by a crazy friend who later decided that the 427 needed a little more power than GM saw fit to give it. Going full circle, the same friend later bought an XJ-S, into which he swapped a small block Chev. THe Jag engine received a glass top, and became a table in his house.

70 Newportsays:

October 12, 2011 8:11 pm

Steve Kenyonsays:

October 14, 2011 3:39 pm

I wish I had a suggestion for you on where you can get a set of those tires. I checked Coker, which is about the best place going for some of the rare specialty tires, but they don’t sell them. I wonder if they were one-off’s that Goodyear made for them. They would do stuff like that back in the day if someone was willing to pay the price. I’d guess this was a “no expense spared” project, so they probably wouldn’t have flinched at dropping some major money on the tires. I sure agree with you, they are an incredible addition to the overall look of the car.

billsays:

October 13, 2011 10:21 pm

I had a 65 conv 365 hp 4.11 axle. This was a fun and tough engine. i frequently ran thru the gears at 6500 + powershifting,a nd even launchinng at that rpm. The main thing one had to do is replace valve springs frequantly if you ran those rpms. One time doing this, one came apart in my hand, only held together by the damper. Chevy used light springs to reduce camshaft and lifter wear, and it worked. The 30-30 cam was good for 7200.
But, my best Chevy was a 69 Z28, after I put in an LT1 solid lifter with better heads and headers. This was a joy and beast and crowd pleaser.